U.S. officials say changes in the Medicare prescription drug plan for next year will include more choices and better coverage especially in the "doughnut hole."
More choices will allow beneficiaries in most states to choose from more than 50 plans and that the "doughnut hole" gap coverage will apply only to generic drugs, USA Today reported.
The newspaper said that currently the gap affects 94 percent of beneficiaries after they have paid about $750 until they reach $3,600 in costs. But health advocates say seniors should revisit the plan and re-examine the choices be cause of the changes.
"The right plan for someone in 2006 might not be the right plan in 2007," a spokesman for the Kaiser Family Foundation health research organization told USA Today. "The concern is that products are changing, but seniors won't."
Medicare officials say the average monthly premiums will stay below $24, or far less than the $37 originally projected. They said companies also are adding new forms of coverage.
"Competition is working," Mark McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told the newspaper. "They are adding plans that people want."
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
50 years and counting: The Wisconsin Longitudinal study
Lee Schoenecker doesn’t recall filling out a survey 50 years ago about his plans after high school, yet this long-forgotten event has stayed with him ever since. Because of it, the retired urban planner has spent many more hours being surveyed both by telephone and written questionnaire. He recently provided a sample of DNA. Even his wife and siblings have become involved.
More drug providers enter Medicare market
Insurers were allowed to begin advertising their plans for Medicare prescription drug coverage Sunday, even as new providers were poised to enter the market.
Gene-testing startup's study responds to critics
(AP) -- A Silicon Valley gene-testing startup is responding to criticism that the tests could spur bad health-care choices by teaming up for a broad study of how the results affect behavior.
'60s generation is heading for conventional old age
Britain's post-war baby boomers, associated throughout their lives with social change, are failing to break new ground in their approach to growing old.
Senator urges DOJ to monitor Google, Yahoo deal
(AP) -- A key senator is urging the Justice Department to keep up its investigation into the antitrust implications of the Internet advertising partnership that Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. plan to launch this month.
Looking for a loan? Try P2P
Saddled by student loans and credit card debt, Ryan Little was looking for relief. Like many, the 30-year-old insurance agent turned towards banks for a loan but he ended up finding a much better deal elsewhere, on the Internet, through a website called Lending Club (lendingclub.com).
Texas' coastal ecosystem could take a generation to recover from Ike's damage
It was a violent dose of nature to a coast already hammered by decades of pollution, population growth and habitat loss. As scientists and land managers start to assess the storm's impacts on beaches, dunes and marshes, they are seeing signs of present damage and future worries.
Music, CompuMaestro -- like Radiohead, please...
It's an archetypal exchange in musical performance. A vocalist stands poised to perform. The guitarist alongside is ready to add depth and harmony to the melody. The guitarist doesn't know the song but "hum a few bars and I'll fake it," she tells the singer. "Could you do it in the style of Radiohead?" asks the vocalist. "No problem," the versatile guitar player says.